November 13, 2016

Join me and other kindred spirits today for a reviving walk through late autumn splendor concluding with a colorful November sunset and the rising of a giant supermoon, the largest appearing and closest passing full moon most of us will see in our lifetimes.

This month's "gossamer" moon also marks the seasonal movement of hundreds gees and ducks through Great Meadows and the wondrous twinkling of gossamer strands draped across the landscape as baby spiders hatch, let out their silken threads and balloon their way to new horizons. The moon will appear with the height of sunset color, soon after 4:30. Dress warmly. All ages welcome.

Co-sponsored by Friends of the Assabet River NWR

Led by Cherrie Corey, local naturalist/photographer

Donations gratefully accepted

Take Rte. 62/Bedford St. in Concord to Monsen Road. Turn left into the GMNWR driveway after #177. We'll meet at the kiosk just off the parking lot.

November 10, 2016

In response to so many grieving, frightened, and angry posts I've read in the past two days, I offer this visual moment of deep peace, loveliness, and bountiful color that I experienced on the eve of the election joined with Wendell Berry's poem, which also appears to be trending today:

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

About Sense of Place - Concord

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and to know the place for the first time. - T. S. Elliot

Sense of Place - Concord is a community and internet-based, shared-learning initiative launched in 2008 by naturalist and photographer, Cherrie Corey, and attracting hundreds of participants of all ages. Under its framework, Cherrie and collaborating colleagues, have offered an array of natural history programs, walks, and on-line learning resources that inspire a deeper, more attentive connection to place, seasonal cycles, and participants' personal unfolding in the wild and cultivated landscapes around them. Offerings focus on the Concord and related New England landscapes, Thoreau's legacy, and the area's rich natural history, scientific, and philosophical traditions.

In addition to the following co-sponsors and collaborators, seasonal programs and field trips are also offered for other community and special interest groups. Clients and co-sponsors: Carlton-Willard at Home, Carroll School, CCTV, Clark University, Concord Children's Center, Concord Free Public Library, Concord Museum, Concord Land Conservation Trust, Concord Public Schools, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Freedom's Way National Heritage Area, Friends of the Assabet River NWR, the Garden Club of Concord, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Littleton Conservation Trust, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program, The Nature Connection, New England Wildflower Society, Nature Playscape at Ripley, Oakfield Research, Sudbury Valley Trustees, Rivers & Revolutions/CCHS, Thoreau Farm Trust, The Thoreau Institute/Walden Woods Project, The Thoreau Society, Town of Concord - Dept. of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wayland Historical Society. Seasonal programs and field trips are also offered for other community and special interest groups.